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Google Seeks to Expand VP9 Support

The latest iteration
of Google’s video
codec for Internet
streaming applications is
called VP9, and it is starting
to gain traction in the
turbulent market for video
codecs. Introduced
in mid-2013, VP9 is an
open-source, royalty-free
video compression format that is being positioned
as a competitor to H.265/HEVC for
web streaming and mobile video applications.
Announcements in January heralded a
growing base of support for the codec, with
close to 20 manufacturers promising to create
hardware implementations of VP9.

VP9 uses
a traditional
block-based encoding
system
based on the
Discrete Cosine
Transform, similar
to MPEG-2 and
AVC encoders.
Standard concepts
such as
motion prediction
and an efficient
binary entropy
coding scheme are used. VP9 supports
“superblocks” at sizes up to 64 x 64, which
improve coding performance for static images,
and employs quadtree recursive variable
block size subdivision down to 4 x 4 pixels,
which perform better for images with a
large amount of motion. The codec also supports
a different type of coding transform
called Asymmetrical Discrete Sine Transform
(ADST), which produces a compressed
video signal with smoother transitions at
boundaries between adjacent blocks.

CONVERGING VIEWS
So how does VP9 compare to other codecs
such as AVC and HEVC? Well, the only
thing that is certain is that VP9 is better
(higher quality at lower bit rates) than VP8
in all respects. Some studies have shown
that VP9 is significantly better than AVC, and
within a few percentage points of HEVC.
Other studies indicate that VP9 is comparable
to AVC and significantly worse than
HEVC. As encoders become optimized, and
more studies are performed, the results
should start to converge, but it is important
to consider the applications for the various
codecs.

In comparisons published so far, VP9
seems to do better in testing that uses
consumer-contributed video (not uncompressed
test sequences) at very low bit rates.
Some other evidence indicates that MPEG
codecs are stronger at high bit rates and
with pristine, uncompressed source material.

VP9 is the successor to VP8, a video codec
introduced in 2008 by On2 Technologies,
a company that was acquired by Google
in early 2010. After the acquisition, Google
began using VP8 for YouTube video delivery
(along with HTML5), and subsequently
made the source code available under an
open-source license. Google has taken the
same approach with VP9, finalizing the bitstream
format and releasing source code for
encoding and decoding in June, 2013. Fig. 1
shows a comparison of four different video
codecs.

The evolution of video codecs over the past five years

So far, Google’s new codec has achieved
a small but significant amount of support in
the market, particularly on the decode side.
Browsers including Google Chrome and
Firefox from Mozilla provide native HTML5
support for VP9. (Mozilla has a policy against
incorporating codecs that require license
payments, although a deal last year with
Cisco has initiated efforts to support H.264
in Firefox.) VP9 bitstreams are typically
wrapped inside the WebM container format,
along with open source audio codecs such
as Vorbis today and Opus in the near future.
The popular open source, multiformat video
player VLC has included support for VP9 in
a recent update. FFmpeg, which is a bundle
of open source tools and technologies, also
introduced support for a VP9 player capability
late last year. On the encode side, there
are few commercial products as of yet, but
these may be forthcoming in the near future.

GOOGLE’S MOTIVATION
Google developed VP9 to greatly reduce
the bandwidth required for streamed videos,
particularly for HD and larger video formats.
Lower bit rates have obvious benefits for
Google, as they will help reduce the amount
of bandwidth needed to deliver streams to
online viewers. Video file storage requirements
will also be reduced, which becomes
significant when one considers the 100
hours of video that is uploaded to You-
Tube each minute.

Another objective for Google in creating
VP9 was to promote widespread
adoption of a technology within the
marketplace that was unencumbered
by third-party patents and related issues
or royalties. In 2013, Google was able to
license a group of 11 patents related to
VP8 in a negotiation with MPEG LA (the
leading MPEG intellectual property license
pool). The terms of the license stated
that the same group of patents could
also be utilized by Google in the next
generation codec, namely VP9. This could
prove important in comparison to HEVC,
which has indicated that royalties will be
collected on a per-device basis.

IMPACT ON BROADCASTERS
From a practical standpoint, the biggest
impact of VP9 on broadcasters will
be on those organizations that are delivering
video to viewers using mobile
devices and web streams. As more consumer
devices and platforms support
the new codec, content producers will
find it easier to distribute video to multiple
devices that all have native support
for the standard. Right now, broadcasters
will most likely first encounter VP9 when
uploading HD content to YouTube; widespread
deployment for other applications
will likely have to wait until commercial
encoding is available. This could occur either
in the form of a packaged encoder
solution, or in the form of a service provider
that offers VP9 as a menu choice.
Momentum in support of the new codec
could potentially increase now that the
likes of ARM, Intel, Qualcomm, Panasonic,
Samsung and Sony have agreed to provide
support. Don’t be surprised if new
VP9 products are forthcoming by the end
of 2014.

Wes Simpson is an industry consultant
and author of “Video Over IP, Second
Edition,” from Focal Press. Your comments
are welcome to wes.simpson@gmail.com.